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© 1999 by Nakayama Noriyuki

Magic on the First Line

Nakayama Noriyuki

Buy the full book at gobooks.com

This book by the highly popular pro Nakayama Noriyuki deals with a special topic: first-line tesuji, that is, first-line plays that are surprisingly effective in common situations. Nakayama presents three groups of problems: for 15 kyu to 5 kyu, 5 kyu to 1 kyu, and 1 kyu to dan level, making these often surprising moves accessible to everyone.

Preface

I decided to call this book Magic on the First Line. Go is a game in which all 361 intersections on the face of the board can be used, but in the beginning phase of the game we don’t play on the first line at the edge of the board. However, from the middle game through the endgame, little by little, stones appear on the first line and various miraculous things can occur. Or so it sometimes seems to me. Of course there is no wizard living in the edge of the board casting spells, but … . If you don’t think so, nevertheless seemingly unexplainable, deeply mysterious things do happen; there are more than a few examples of famous players from go history crying out in surprise.

However, in this book we won’t be concerned with such difficult matters. We will be studying quite elementary first line tactics which will eventually cause you a loss if you don’t know them. We will be beginner level wizards of the edge of the board, so to speak. Being familiar with things at this level or not can make a big difference. Your winning percentage should increase quite a bit, I think.

Nakayama Noriyuki, Spring 1999

Copyright Page

© 1999 by Nakayama Noriyuki

Translation © 2010 by Robert McGuigan

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited.

Slate & Shell
1425 Westshire Lane
Richmond, VA 23238
www.slateandshell.com

Special thanks are due to William Gundberg and Larry Russ for help with editing and proof reading.

Translated by Robert McGuigan

Edited by William Cobb

Cover design by Laurie M. Crammond

Conversion to SmartGo Books by William Cobb

ISBN of print edition:
1–932001–48–4

Table of Contents

Magic on the First Line

Preface

Copyright Page

Mysteries Become Common Sense

Beginning Magic (15 kyu to 5 kyu)

The chapters in gray are included only in the full book.

Intermediate Magic (5 kyu to 1 kyu)

Advanced Magic (1 kyu to dan level)

Edge of the Board Magic from Go History

Afterword

Buy This Book

About SmartGo Books

Mysteries Become Common Sense

(If you master the ninety problems in this book, you can go from 15 kyu to shodan.)

Just what is magic? I understood the meaning vaguely but to get something more exact I pulled out the famous Koujien dictionary. “A mysterious or miraculous occurrence that is contrary to common sense” was what I found there.

Indeed, on the go board moves that wouldn’t be considered common sense do arise. Furthermore, we players, too, sometimes go beyond our opponents' common sense and play moves that produce gasps of astonishment. Very rarely we bring off what seems to be an unbelievably clever move. At such times I myself have made magic, I guess. Especially when you have just learned to play, mysterious things continuously seem magical; things that are now quite ordinary common sense were magic in the beginning.

Diagram 1

Well then, consider Diagram 1. It is Black to play. How would you play?

Diagram 2

In a position like this, probably ten out of ten people would play Black 1 in Diagram 2. If it were White’s turn, on the other hand, a play at the Black 1 point would capture two black stones and make an eye. So just in itself capturing is good for White, but after that there remain possibilities for White to break through to the left.

Just about anyone who has reached a level of amateur 10 kyu or so can appreciate all this. At a certain stage practically no time would be needed to play Black 1 in Diagram 2.

Someone who thinks for one or two minutes and then plays Black 1 does not have good go sense. In other words, playing Black 1 would be common sense even for me. Continuing, White will hane with 2 and after Black plays 3, White 4 makes life. Quite an ordinary sequence. In short, it’s common sense.

With this development, if Black wins without any hardships that’s fine. However, it’s also the case that no magic happened. In fact, Black made a huge mistake. If you had some vague misgivings about Black’s play, well, you could be a high dan player, or maybe a regional champion. Despite this it is by no means such a difficult thing. Even 10 kyu or weaker players will understand at once if they read the explanation. It is not too much to say that this problem is essentially a question of awareness.

Diagram 3

Black has to hane at Black 1 in Diagram 3. If you ask why, the answer is that this way Black can kill all the white stones. The common sense moves in the previous diagrams make it look like Black is trying not to be greedy, but rather to be satisfied with capturing the upper white stones in sente.

White naturally responds with 2. Well, then, what would you do now?

Diagram 4

Black 3 in Diagram 4, on the first line, delivers the finishing blow, a case of magic at the edge of the board. With this move a white group that, according to common sense, would not be expected to die entirely suddenly is dead. I think this is an example of the awesome power of a tesuji.

Diagram 5

If White plays 4 in Diagram 5, Black pulls out with 5. Now if White captures the three black stones, Black retakes one stone and the white group can only make one eye. Now that I think of it, I guess you could say that 5 is also a magical move at the edge of the board.

Now, for pros and high dan players, Black 3 and the rest are certainly not magic. I suppose for those people this move would be common sense. Anyhow, I hope it will become that for you, too.

Perhaps it isn’t clear to some readers that after Black 3 in Diagram 4, White is dead. There are a lot of things White could try.

Diagram 6

For example, if White plays 4 in Diagram 5 at 1, Black responds with 4 and 6! If you can carry out the performance up to 12 you are pretty smart.

Diagram 7

However, the sequence through Black 6, 8, and 10 in Diagram 7 is also very good. As you can probably see, to follow through on the “magic” of Black 1 a certain strength is necessary. Players at the 10 kyu or 15 kyu level make a lot of mistakes even with basic techniques such as Black 10 in Diagram 6 or Black 8 in Diagram 7. In that case the edge of the board technique lacks support so, to start, I will consult my beginner’s mind and we will begin our studies with material suitable for that level.

Beginning Magic

(from 15 kyu to 5 kyu)

All Problems are Black to play.

Problem 1

Black to play

The four black stones in the lower right and the six black stones in the middle of the lower side look dead. It is Black’s turn, so the problem, then, is what can Black do? If both parts can live you’d have to say that is a very good result.

Answer 1: One Move Connects

Solution

Solution: With Black 1 on the edge of the board, at one stroke Black connects his stones. No matter what White does he can’t separate the black groups. Black has one eye to the left and one to the right and has made life very skillfully.

Failure

Failure: Black 1 is also on the first line, but this time, after White 2, White captures the right hand black stones. If White plays 2 at the Black 3 point, you can check that after Black A, Black saves his stones. If White plays 2 at A, trying to capture on a larger scale, after Black makes the left hand group live at 3, a move by Black at the White 2 point would make the right hand group live so White has to play another move in this case.

Problem 2

Black to play

We want to make the ten black stones live. Should Black capture two stones? Or one stone? If you read out that neither capture results in life, then you have to consider whether some other tactic is possible.

Answer 2: Two Birds with One Stone

Solution

Solution: Black 1, on the first line, is an important move. If you look carefully you’ll see that with one play it captures white stones to the left and right. It kills two birds with one stone, or better, makes two eyes with one stone.

Failure

Failure: If you would capture two white stones with Black 1 you are a bit hasty. After White 2, Black has only one eye. White 4 is a natural response to Black 3. If White thoughtlessly plays this move at A, Black can cut at B, creating a ko. However, if White’s intention was to capture all the black stones, it is not good to allow this ko. However, White B instead of 4 would be fine.

Problem 3

Black to play

Make the nine black stones live.

White can steal an eye on the left or steal an eye on the right so Black must play a skillful move to live.

Answer 3: Same Workmanship, Different Style

Solution

Solution: Black 1 on the edge of the board is a fine tesuji in this situation. This one move preserves both eyes, to the left and right. If White plays atari trying to steal an eye, after Black connects, White cannot save his stone thanks to Black 1. No other move will make the black stones live. For example, …

Failure

Failure: … if Black plays 1 to try and live, after White 2 and 4 Black has lost an eye. Even if Black captures a stone with 5, after White 6 it is to no avail. If you look carefully you’ll see that this problem and Problem 2 use the same tactic.

Problem 4

Black to play

Black’s six stones look like an eel’s bed, but is there a move to make life? Normally, when stones are lined up on the second line we apply the proverb to the effect that six die and eight live, but what happens when there are seven?

Answer 4: Symmetrical Shape

Solution

Solution: Black 1, dropping down in the middle, is a good move here. After White 2 and Black 3, Black has one eye to the left and one to the right.

Failure

Failure: Connecting with Black 1 is quite an ordinary looking move, but this time it doesn’t work to make life. Attacking from the outside with White 2 and 4 is important, and White 6 plays in the middle of the three point eye space to create a dead shape. If it were Black’s turn with the Black 1 stone in place, Black could live by playing at the White 2, 4, or 6 points, though usually the White 2 or White 4 point is preferable. With seven in a row on the second line, the result depends on whose turn it is.

Problem 5

Black to play

The black stones look like two dead trees standing alone. However, these six stones are surprisingly resilient. Maybe you’ve seen this kind of problem before. There is a proverb that applies here. To wit: “In a symmetrical shape there is a move in the middle.” It’s first-line magic.

Answer 5: Seki Is Life

Solution

Solution: Black 1 on the edge of the board is the vital point. White 2 is a troublesome move, but Black has the clamp at 3 available, and after the moves through Black 7, you should see the result is seki. In a seki there is no territory, according to Japanese rules, but the stones can’t be captured so they are alive.

Failure

Failure: Black 1, in the middle, is a place you might want to play, but White 2 and 4 narrow Black’s space and White 6 finishes off the black stones.

Problem 6

Black to play

The black stones to the left and right really look separated! What can possibly be done?

Depending on how you play, both parts might die, half might live, or perhaps both parts might live. However, after all, there’s nothing to do but appeal to a miracle on the first line.

Answer 6: Jumping Over Eight Ships

Solution

Solution: After Black 1, I guess you will think it is quite a skillful move, perhaps magic at the board’s edge. No matter what White tries, he cannot separate the left and right black stones, so Black lives.

According to legend, the great ancient warrior general Yoshitsune jumped over eight ships during a battle so remember that even such distant stones as these can be connected by a move on the first line.

Failure
8 at 2

Failure: Though this Black 1 is also on the first line, only one space to the left of the correct move, it’s a very bad move. After White plays 2 at the vital point, a ko develops with the moves through White 8. It is often said that the point next to the correct move isn’t necesarily a ninty-nine percent move, it might be a zero percent move, so be careful.

Problem 7

Black to play

It looks like the black stones here are vulnerable to throw-ins or connect-and-die. No matter how you look at it the white stones seem to be safe from capture. So you’ll have to do something or other.

Answer 7: Connect-and-Die Misfires

Solution

Solution: After the hane of Black 1 and White’s capture of a stone with 2, Black’s connection at 3 shows great composure. The connect-and-die White was aiming at doesn’t work now since White can’t play at the point to the left of White 2. Naturally, the white stones are dead.

Failure

Failure: Black takes pains to play the correct move at 1, but then connects with 3 at the wrong place, a failure. After the forcing move at White 4, White 6 activates the connect-and-die strategy.

The full book continues this chapter with 23 additional problems, followed by chapters on “Intermediate Magic”, “Advanced Magic”, and “Edge of the Board Magic from Go History”.